After that, everyone was more than ready to go home.
The drive back to their house was somber. Ruby was exhausted and upset by her failed Christmas surprise. She perked up after they set up a new Christmas tree in the front room specifically for her decorations, but Abigail and Jasper’s nerves were still frazzled by the time she went off to bed.
“That could have gone badly,” she said as they headed back downstairs after putting Ruby to bed.
“Worse than it actually did?” Jasper had a far-off look in his eyes. “I didn’t realize she’d been planning something. Do you think…”
“That all your plans rubbed off on her?” Abigail gave a weak smile. “Don’t take all the blame. You weren’t the only one plotting.”
“I wasn’t?”
It was time to come clean.
She took a deep breath.
“Momm-yyyy…” A soft wail drifted down the stairs.
She turned back to the stairs. “I’ll go see what that’s about.”
“Dad-dyyy…”
“Sounds like I’m coming with you.”
Ruby was waiting for them, sitting upright in bed, a determined and slightly damp expression on her face.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Abigail asked, sitting beside her and pulling her into a cuddle.
Ruby sniffled against her shoulder. “Does Santa Claus really not bring presents if you’ve been bad?”
Abigail exchanged a look with Jasper. “Well…”
“What if you do something wrong but it’s already really late… if he’s already packed the presents, does he still give them to you? Or does he throw them away?”
“You haven’t done anything wrong, Bee-bee,” Jasper told her, patting her hair.
“It’s not ME,” she said, outraged. “Hamish and Lola… They did…” Her voice faded into a muffled whisper.
“I’m sure they didn’t mean to set the tree on fire,” Jasper said.
Abigail was less sure, but she kept quiet.
“Remember when you used to accidentally set things on fire? And Santa Claus always brought you presents, because he knew it was an accident,” Jasper said reassuringly.
“They did it on PURPOSE. And they were YUCKY,” Ruby grumped. “And then they LAUGHED.”
“What did they laugh about?” Abigail asked.
Ruby looked disgusted. “You’re not allowed to tell anybody.”
“Okay…?”
“OrSanta.”
“I promise.”
Ruby looked around, as though worried someone else might be listening in. She pulled Abigail’s head close and whispered damply in her ear, “They did WEES and then they set the WEES on FIRE.”
Abigail went perfectly still. This was serious business.
